“Mahama-OO!” President John Mahama’s Woes

Two and four year olds play games amongst themselves called, “lights off-lights on.” “Lights off-lights on” is a local term used to describe the situation when the electrical power goes off and on. Accordingly, while the children play a game that requires electricity, one will suddenly shout, “lights off!” Immediately, all of them will simultaneously shout, “Mahama-oo!” After a few minutes of inactivity, obviously due to the lack of power, another shouts, “lights on,” and they all begin to laugh and continue where they left. Even when individuals cannot sleep well at night, they exclaim, “Mahama-oo!” Continue reading →

The Real Africa: A Poem

Having been born and grown up in Zimbabwe my entire life, moving to Philadelphia for college was quite an adjustment. While I made friends easily and settled into life in the United States, even becoming an American citizen last year, a huge part of me always wished I were back home in Harare, the African … Continue reading →

Migration, Cosmopolitanism, and Africa in the Twenty-First Century

The following is an excerpt from my newly published book, Africa in Fragments. It is lifted from the book’s conclusion, where I analyze Africa’s future or futures in light of globalization, migration, and cosmopolitanism. African peoples, problems, and issues have shifted radically as trans-national human mobility has intensified in a globalizing world. The resulting cosmopolitanism … Continue reading →

Ebola and Political Narratives in Guinea

I usually know that a news item about Africa has reached a critical mass when it shows up on Gawker, long one of my writing break diversions. And so it is that Guinea has emerged again into the collective Western consciousness, this time due to increased coverage of an Ebola outbreak. The stories almost write … Continue reading →